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Revised 9/18/2012
CTE ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES 2012
WHY IS TESTING IMPORTANT?
Oklahoma’s CareerTech Testing Center (CTTC) has developed and delivered end of instruction tests to students in career and technology education programs for many years. Recently, however, there has been a growing legislative and educational push to use assessments to not only measure and identify student success, but also as an indication of instructional effectiveness.
The 1992 Carl Perkins Act and other federal legislation have traditionally included a testing component as a means of measuring student competency. In order to comply with this legislation, the CTTC compiled a list of approved assessments that met these minimum requirements:
 End-of-instruction assessments (or a bundle of tests)
 Rigorous, knowledge-based
 Independently scored
In order to document compliance with subsequent versions of Perkins legislation, the list of Approved Assessments for Oklahoma CareerTech programs was modified and expanded to provide an indication of industry involvement in the development and administration of each assessment.
In 2005, Senate Bill 982 established the Achieving Classroom Excellence (ACE) initiative, which provided a framework for all Oklahoma school systems to implement standards, curriculum, and assessments with the rigor and relevance necessary for Oklahoma students to be prepared for college and the world of work. In 2006, Senate Bill 1792 established test requirements and allowed for alternate tests to be adopted. At that time, the Oklahoma State Department of Education contracted with the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB) to identify criteria that provided an indicator of assessment quality and develop a system of categorizing an assessment based on how it met each of these criteria. This initial undertaking by the SREB provided the framework of the system currently used to approve and categorize assessments for career and technology education programs.
In 2009, Oklahoma Senate Bill 497 mandated school districts to report any business and industry-recognized endorsements attained on students’ high school transcripts. In 2011, Oklahoma House Bill 1456 established the A-F School Grading System, which designates letter grades to schools based on academic performance as measured by assessment scores, student growth, and other factors. Schools receive points for students who participate in career and technology education courses that lead to industry certification. In addition, schools receive points for each student who passes an assessment that is endorsed, recognized, or administered by industry.
Although all assessments on the list of Approved Assessments for Oklahoma CareerTech Programs may be used to satisfy Carl Perkins requirements, a subset of this list provides the basis for complying with Oklahoma Senate Bill 497 and Oklahoma House Bill 1456. Assessments on this subset list must meet additional requirements for the A-F Report Card and documentation on a student’s high school transcript. These additional requirements are:
 Standardized with a formal process in place for validating test content and policies to ensure all students are tested and treated consistently
 Independently graded
 Knowledge-based, rigorous, and representative of at least 60 hours of instruction
 Proctored in a secure environment or testing center using a process that prohibits instructor participation in the administration of the assessment
 Recognized and/or endorsed by an industry organization, association or government agency

Revised 9/18/2012
CTE ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES 2012
WHY IS TESTING IMPORTANT?
Oklahoma’s CareerTech Testing Center (CTTC) has developed and delivered end of instruction tests to students in career and technology education programs for many years. Recently, however, there has been a growing legislative and educational push to use assessments to not only measure and identify student success, but also as an indication of instructional effectiveness.
The 1992 Carl Perkins Act and other federal legislation have traditionally included a testing component as a means of measuring student competency. In order to comply with this legislation, the CTTC compiled a list of approved assessments that met these minimum requirements:
 End-of-instruction assessments (or a bundle of tests)
 Rigorous, knowledge-based
 Independently scored
In order to document compliance with subsequent versions of Perkins legislation, the list of Approved Assessments for Oklahoma CareerTech programs was modified and expanded to provide an indication of industry involvement in the development and administration of each assessment.
In 2005, Senate Bill 982 established the Achieving Classroom Excellence (ACE) initiative, which provided a framework for all Oklahoma school systems to implement standards, curriculum, and assessments with the rigor and relevance necessary for Oklahoma students to be prepared for college and the world of work. In 2006, Senate Bill 1792 established test requirements and allowed for alternate tests to be adopted. At that time, the Oklahoma State Department of Education contracted with the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB) to identify criteria that provided an indicator of assessment quality and develop a system of categorizing an assessment based on how it met each of these criteria. This initial undertaking by the SREB provided the framework of the system currently used to approve and categorize assessments for career and technology education programs.
In 2009, Oklahoma Senate Bill 497 mandated school districts to report any business and industry-recognized endorsements attained on students’ high school transcripts. In 2011, Oklahoma House Bill 1456 established the A-F School Grading System, which designates letter grades to schools based on academic performance as measured by assessment scores, student growth, and other factors. Schools receive points for students who participate in career and technology education courses that lead to industry certification. In addition, schools receive points for each student who passes an assessment that is endorsed, recognized, or administered by industry.
Although all assessments on the list of Approved Assessments for Oklahoma CareerTech Programs may be used to satisfy Carl Perkins requirements, a subset of this list provides the basis for complying with Oklahoma Senate Bill 497 and Oklahoma House Bill 1456. Assessments on this subset list must meet additional requirements for the A-F Report Card and documentation on a student’s high school transcript. These additional requirements are:
 Standardized with a formal process in place for validating test content and policies to ensure all students are tested and treated consistently
 Independently graded
 Knowledge-based, rigorous, and representative of at least 60 hours of instruction
 Proctored in a secure environment or testing center using a process that prohibits instructor participation in the administration of the assessment
 Recognized and/or endorsed by an industry organization, association or government agency